


Ship to Shore

by zellieh



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Disorder, Backstory, Banter, Behind the Scenes, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort Sex, Developing Relationship, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Engineers, Epilogue, Episode Related, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Protagonist, First Time, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, Hiccups, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Missing Scene, Nightmares, POV Female Character, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Prologue, Rare Pairing, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Season/Series 02, Sex, Sex Positive, Stimulants, Stress Relief, Swearing, Team Dynamics, Teamwork, Withdrawal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-06
Updated: 2006-04-06
Packaged: 2017-11-08 09:50:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/441909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zellieh/pseuds/zellieh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lindsey snorted, hopped up beside Rodney, yelped, and prodded him in the ribs. "Scoot over, you have sharp elbows." John stifled a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Rodney frowned impartially at both of them, and scooted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ship to Shore

**Author's Note:**

> Notes & Warnings: **Spoilers for almost every episode in Season 2.**
> 
> Beta’d by [](http://vileseagulls.livejournal.com/profile)[**vileseagulls**](http://vileseagulls.livejournal.com/). Written for the [](http://sgarareathon.livejournal.com/profile)[**sgarareathon**](http://sgarareathon.livejournal.com/) challenge, for [](http://aella-irene.livejournal.com/profile)[**aella_irene**](http://aella-irene.livejournal.com/). I hope you like it. *g*
> 
> This story is a series of prologues, interludes & epilogues, so it’ll be easier to understand if you know what happened in Season 2.

**The Siege III – or, Caldwell saves Atlantis – Interlude.**

The first thing Lindsey heard when she arrived in Atlantis’ labs at the start of her shift was Dr. Rodney McKay yelling at someone, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. The surprise was that he wasn’t arguing with a scientist or a soldier; he was arguing with Dr. Beckett.

“Look at this list. See all the red flashing items on it? They’re all critical systems that need to be repaired today. Or, better yet, _yesterday_.”

“Rodney, I can’t give you any more stimulants. You have to sleep.”

“I _can’t_ sleep, Carson. My staff are dropping like flies, falling into comas all over the place, and all I’ve got left are these idiots from the Daedalus!”

“I’m sure they’re all very capable people, Rodney; they can manage without you for a few hours, at least,” Carson soothed, trying to manoeuvre the scientist towards the door.

“No, they can’t. They’re idiots! They’ve never been to Atlantis before; they have no idea how dangerous it all is. There could still be Wraith out there, and we don’t have enough soldiers to protect them! Then there’s the Ancient technology, the labs… They’ll go out there and do something stupid and get themselves killed!”

Dr. Beckett sighed. “All right, Rodney, if you insist. Roll up your sleeve.” Lindsey frowned as she noticed the track marks on Dr. McKay’s arm. No wonder Dr. Beckett didn’t want to give him any more stimulants. She swallowed and turned away as the needle went in.

McKay rolled down his sleeve, looked at his laptop, and started ordering the scientists around. Behind his back, Dr. Beckett gestured for her to join him in a quieter corner of the lab.

“You’re Dr. Novak, aren’t you? You’re in charge of the lot from the Daedalus.”

Lindsey nodded, bemused, and he continued, “I’ve not given him a stimulant; I’ve given him a sedative.” Beckett glanced over at Dr McKay, his brow wrinkled with concern, and looked back at her, earnest and sincere.

“He needs to sleep, and I need your help to make him. He’s probably got about fifteen or twenty minutes before he starts to crash. I need you to encourage him to take a wee nap when he starts getting sleepy. Get him to go to his quarters if you can; there’s a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor in that office if you can’t.” He gestured at a door in the opposite wall.

“But-” Lindsey stopped, trying to think of a polite way to say, ‘Why me?’ or ‘Do I have to?’

“Why am I asking you, and not doing it myself?” Dr. Beckett smiled gently, and scrubbed a hand through his already-ruffled hair. “I’d stay to help, but, well. Let’s just say we’ve discussed this before, he and I, and it’s not pretty. I’d rather not have another screaming row, if I can avoid it.” He looked at her tiredly. “I know it’s a lot to ask, lass, but I think he’ll listen to you. He respects you.”

Lindsey thought about that for a minute. She looked at Beckett leaning - sagging - against the desk; and at McKay, handing out work orders, yelling: “Don’t touch anything that hasn’t been checked, and keep your earpieces on at all times. Remember, if you see a Wraith, scream for help and _run away_.”

She turned back. “Okay, Dr. Beckett, I’ll do it.”

He smiled, clapped her on the shoulder, and said, “Call me Carson.”

Lindsey smiled at her new co-conspirator. Said, “I’d like that, Carson. Call me Lindsey,” and hiccupped.

So Lindsey kept an eye on Dr. McKay. Just as Carson predicted, a quarter of an hour later he started slurring his words. Drawing on years of experience with her too-stubborn-for-their-own-good brothers, she eventually managed to manoeuvre him into the office. Lindsey blinked. It seemed Dr. McKay wasn’t the only over-tired scientist who’d refused to leave the labs.

She squinted at the tangle of limbs, pillows, and blankets on the floor, bemused, and finally managed to mentally sort the mess into four sleeping bodies. Dr. Zelenka was the one with his head under a pillow. The Asian woman had to be Dr. Kusanagi. Lindsey grimaced at the third person, Dr. Kavanagh: she remembered him from the SGC. The black man with the Ghanaian flag on his jacket must be Dr. Adjei; she’d met him at a conference. He’d been a plumply-rounded man with the most beautiful voice she’d ever heard; he looked a lot thinner now.

Beside her, Dr. McKay yawned, swaying slightly. Lindsey looked at the pile of sleeping scientists, and thought that McKay would probably just about fit into the corner on the left, if she could get him over there before he fell down.

“Come on, Dr. McKay.”

He blinked at her, red-eyed, grey-faced and stubbly, and said, “Call me Rodney.”

“Okay, Rodney. You can call me Lindsey.” She smiled at him and tugged on his arm to get him moving. “Come on now, Rodney. Lie down over here, and get some sleep.”

 

 

**The Intruder – or, My anti-virus programme really sucks – Epilogue.**

Lindsey peeked into the Daedalus’ sickbay, and winced. Rodney looked about ready to open a vein – his own, or someone else’s; it was hard to tell – and Sheppard was reading. Reading something lurid pink with gold lett- no! Colonel Sheppard was reading a _romance novel?_ It looked like she was just in time. She straightened up, and strode in, smiling bravely.

“Dr. Novak – I mean, Lindsey. Please tell me you have another emergency? I have got to get out of here before my brain implodes, and I’m reduced to reading _romance novels_ like some other people around here!” He glared at Sheppard, who smirked.

“Aww, you’re just jealous because Carson confiscated your laptop.” Sheppard smiled at Lindsey. “Hey, Dr. Novak.”

“Hi.” Lindsey waved at him. “Call me Lindsey.”

“Thanks, Lindsey.” He smiled charmingly, and said, “Please, call me John.”

She nodded vaguely and turned back to Rodney. “I thought you might be getting bored in here, so I brought,” Lindsey flourished the scroll of paper in her hand, “Johansson’s latest paper!”

Rodney’s eyes widened, incredibly blue against his sunburned skin. “Johansson? They’re still letting that cretin publish? Oh, God, hand it over!” His hands clutched at the paper, automatically uncapping the red pen she handed him.

“Oh, now look at this! I haven’t even finished the first paragraph and this…!” Eyes sparkling, he looked up at Lindsey, hands already correcting the first of - no doubt - many errors.

“I know,” Lindsey smiled and blushed. “I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”

“Oh.” Rodney looked from her face to Johansson’s paper and back again. “Well, uh. Here.” He patted the bed beside him.

“What?” Lindsey seemed to be saying that a lot lately, and always to Dr. McKay. Rodney. Who was now rolling his eyes at her, she noticed, and still patting the bed.

“Relax. Just because you’re bright and have pretty eyes does not mean I’m going to jump you in the middle of the infirmary. I know all about equality and respect; they made me go to several seminars after Carter…um.”

Rodney looked intensely uncomfortable, and Lindsey tried not to laugh. The image of Rodney – Dr. McKay – in some sort of Equality and Diversity seminar... She had a feeling he was reading her mind, because he hmmphed, snapped, “Oh, just sit down, already,” and rattled the pages of Johansson’s paper at her meaningfully.

Lindsey snorted, hopped up beside him, yelped, and prodded him in the ribs. “Scoot over, you have sharp elbows.” John stifled a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Rodney frowned impartially at both of them, and scooted.

~~~~~

Lindsey couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled so much. Rodney’s barbs were hilarious when they were aimed at a deserving target, and discussing physics with a fellow engineer - just for fun - was something she hadn’t realised she’d missed amidst all the life-or-death disasters.

Rodney insisted on reading ‘the good bits’ - “Unbelievable! How did he even get into University? They obviously photocopied a PhD for him just to get rid of him!”- out to John, who winked at Lindsey when Rodney wasn’t looking and made intelligent comments like “Uh-huh,” and “Really?” and “Mmmm.” Lindsey snickered at the ‘serious & intellectual’ faces he pulled, and laughed outright when Rodney finally caught on, and threw a box of tissues at John’s head.

“Ow! Hey, Rodney, don’t make me tell Teyla on you!”

Lt. Mbotu came over at that, and gave them a stern lecture about decorum and respect, and ended it with a sterner comment about them being “adults, not five-year-olds!” Lindsey opened her mouth to apologise and say they’d be quiet, but Rodney got there before her.

“Why? We’re the only patients in here! If you don’t like it you can always, oh, I don’t know, let us out?”

John chimed in with a flattering comment and a charming smile, and Lindsey had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as they gave Mbotu a good-cop, bad-cop routine that was a work of art. And that started a brief interlude with Carson, after one of the Daedalus’ other nurses called him for much-needed backup, which was like a Three Stooges routine once they all got going.

Rodney and John did settle down a bit after Carson threatened them with bodily harm, though: “Well, if you’re both feeling well enough to leave, I’ll just tell Teyla and Ronon to set you up with a sparring session, shall I?”

Rodney said, “No, no, now that you mention it, I am feeling tired…”

John just smirked and crossed his heart, “We’ll be good, mom. I promise.” He gave Carson the three-fingered salute. “Scout’s Honour.”

Carson rolled his eyes. “You were never a boy scout, Colonel.”

~~~~~

Eventually they finished ‘critiquing’ (well, pointing and laughing at) Johansson’s paper, and sighed in unison.

Rodney turned to her, grinning hugely. “Can you believe that moron? Page 34!”

“I know!” And the rest trailed off into laughter, Rodney chuckling beside her. God, she missed her brothers, and her sister. Of course, they wouldn’t have been able to point and laugh at Johansson’s paper with her like Rodney could, but it felt almost the same. It felt good.

She sighed again and hopped off Rodney’s bed. It was getting late, and she had to be up early, so – time to go.

“Bye, John!” John waved and smiled and went back to his romance novel. Obviously John was one of those people who’d read anything.

“Bye, Rodney.”

“Wait!” Rodney grabbed her hand, gently. “Lindsey – thank you. For, um.” He rubbed his thumb nervously across the back of her hand, watching her intently. Lindsey hiccupped, and really wished she could read men better. She hiccupped again. His mouth twisted, and she realised that he was trying to smile, awkwardly. “Same time tomorrow?”

Lindsey blinked. Thought about it. Actually, talking to Rodney had been, well, _fun._ She nodded, “Okay,” and hiccupped three times, fast.

 

 

**Runner – or, Hi, Ronon! Bye, Ford! – Epilogue.**

Rodney slumped back on his bed, stared vacantly out over the ocean, and took another mouthful of the beer she’d brought. “Did I tell you how bad he was at Prime/Not Prime?”

“No, but-”

“Oh, I know, you wouldn’t expect a grunt to be much good at it anyway. I sometimes think the military only have intelligence tests so they can pick the stupid people… But, no. No, it was much worse than standard stupidity. I mean, Ford wasn’t actually that much of an idiot. Five to ten years at a half-decent University, and he’d have been a shoo-in for a PhD. Certainly in one of the easier subjects-”

“Like Engineering?” Lindsey raised an eyebrow at him to let him know she was on to his tricks, and he just smiled angelically. Shyeah, right. Like she’d ever fall for that. She had _brothers._

“Well, no, I wouldn’t say that Engineering was easy. Obviously, it’s not as hard as, say,” and Lindsey just had to smack him with the pillow. Then they were tickling and giggling and rolling around on the bed like teenagers, and just like all her teenage dates, Rodney suddenly seemed to have grown extra hands, and she said “Oh,” and Rodney said “Oh!” And then he said “Oh God!” in an entirely different voice, pulled away and sat up.

“Rodney?”

He waved an explanatory hand at her. “Past tense.”

“What?”

“I used _past tense._ All the time I was talking to you about Ford, I was using past tense. Like he’s – like he’s _dead_.”

Lindsey thought of the lieutenant she’d met at the SGC, all bright eyes and brighter smile. Tried to fit that snapshot image into the image of a drugged-up Wraith-killer, roaming the Pegasus Galaxy, damaged and alone. She still couldn’t believe he’d tried to shoot Rodney, a member of his own team.

Apparently nor could Rodney, the way he’d just popped open and chugged another one of the beers she’d brought. Damn, he looked like hell. Suddenly, the bottle whistled through the air and smashed against the wall, and Lindsey jumped up, startled, and stared at Rodney. Who was shouting.

“He ran into a Wraith culling beam! What sort of, of, of _idiot_ runs away from his friends, _into_ a _Wraith culling beam?!”_

Lindsey looked at him, all sexily rumpled and angry and upset - _passionate and aroused,_ whispered her Inner Slut - and briefly considered the advantages of offering him comfort sex. Namely, that she was still turned on, and this way she would actually get to have sex.

Then Rodney looked up at her, eyes blue and suspiciously bright. Whispered, “What sort of idiot does something like that, eh?”

Lindsey looked into Rodney’s sad-bright eyes again, and sighed. She couldn’t do that to him - he was her friend. Friends don’t take sexual advantage of friends - _more’s the pity,_ said her Inner Slut - so Lindsey shoved her Inner Slut back into her dusty old Inner Bordello, sat down, and gave Rodney her best friendly hug.

 

 

**Trinity – or, Oops, I blew up a solar system – Epilogue.**

As soon as she was off-duty, Lindsey went and knocked on Rodney’s door. “Rodney.”

He opened his door reluctantly, said, “Lindsey,” in an odd voice. “Are you going to yell at me too? It seems to be-”

“No.” She grabbed him, pushed him back into his quarters. “I’m just glad you’re alive.” She hugged Rodney hard; kissed him, one hand behind his neck, one around his waist; pushed her leg between his thighs, and felt him start to harden against her hip. Breathed his breath and gloried in the feel of his heart beating against her breast.

Didn’t even realise she was crying until she felt his thumb stroking away the wetness on her cheek. He pulled away, eyed her, said “Lindsey” in his gentlest voice; and she hauled off and slapped him - “You bastard!” - reached her hands into his hair and pulled his head down for another desperate kiss. “You bastard. You nearly… when I saw that weapon firing at you…”

“Lindsey-”

“Shut up, Rodney,” she said, and he did. Probably because she had her tongue down his throat, but hey – whatever worked, right? And she really didn’t want to waste time talking right now. No, she wanted Rodney, naked. Right now. Naked and sweaty and _in her_ and _alive!_

She pulled away and stepped back, said “Strip.”

He opened his mouth, and she unzipped her flight suit, pushed it quickly off her arms and down her legs. Damn – forgot about the boots. She knelt down to work on the laces, and looked up at a sound from Rodney, who was still standing there, doing nothing. “Well? What are you waiting for? _Strip_.”

He gulped and flushed, yanked and clawed his clothes off, kicked off his shoes, and tackled her, scooping her up onto the bed. Onto her back, with his warm weight pressing her into the mattress, his heart beating hard under her hand, frantic with desire. Lindsey laughed, hooked her arms and legs around him, and gave herself up to the sex, laughing and smiling into his kisses.

 

 

**Conversion – or, Why John really hates bugs – Interlude.**

Lindsey looked up as she heard a confident step and a clear voice approaching. Carson had obviously called in reinforcements. Elizabeth and Carson rounded the corner and stopped in front of the team, where they were keeping their vigil for John.

Lindsey stepped out of the way as Elizabeth went straight to Rodney, obviously hoping that if she could get him to move, his team-mates would follow. She looked at him, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Rodney, you need to eat.”

“I’m fine, Elizabeth.”

Lindsey snorted at that. Rodney was so obviously lying, it wasn’t even worth calling him on it; he looked like hell. They all did, in their own way.

“You’re not fine. None of you are.” Carson looked at the three members of the team, and sighed. “There’s nothing you can do here; you might as well go and eat. We’ll call you if anything changes.” He made eye-contact with all of them, but no-one moved.

Teyla looked at Rodney and Ronon, and an entire conversation happened in a single glance. She straightened her spine and looked back at Carson and Elizabeth. “Thank you for your concern, but we will stay.”

Elizabeth and Carson clearly weren’t going to give up that easily, but Lindsey knew an immovable object when she saw one. Or, in this case, three. Stepping out into Atlantis’ corridors, she activated her earpiece. “Radek? I need your help. Can you meet me in the mess hall?”

~~~~~

One of the doctors tried to stop them, but the commotion attracted Carson’s attention and he waved her and Radek through, saying, “I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before.”

“Well, engineers are better trained to assess problems and come up with solutions,” Radek said seriously, with only a little twinkle in his eye.

Lindsey looked at Carson’s care-worn face, and couldn’t resist teasing him a little, too. He looked like he needed a laugh. “After all, it’s not like medicine is even a real science, is it?”

Carson gaped at her for a moment, and then smiled sunnily and teased back. “Ah, and you were such a nice lass before you started dating Rodney!”

They wheeled the food trolley into the little corner the team had claimed, and Lindsey grinned at Radek as three heads snapped up and three noses twitched in unison. Ronon and Rodney immediately attacked the food like starving wolves, but Teyla moved forward gracefully and touched foreheads with Lindsey, Radek, and Carson in turn. “Thank you for this.”

Carson and Radek looked at Lindsey, and she realised they were waiting for her to answer, so she mumbled, “Uh, you’re welcome.” Dammit, she always felt like she’d grown extra knees and elbows whenever she was around Teyla. The woman was just so, so – graceful.

Teyla served herself - gracefully, of course - and sat down to eat with Ronon. Lindsey slopped some stew onto her plate, fumbled for cutlery, and collapsed next to Rodney. Who - miracle of miracles - actually stopped eating long enough to say, “Thanks, Lindsey,” and smile at her.

She smiled back, and they ate together in comfortable silence.

 

 

**Aurora – or, Virtual Reality can really suck – Interlude.**

There was really nothing for Rodney, John, Teyla and Ronon to do until they reached the Aurora, and they were bored. Teyla and Ronon spent their free time sparring with the crew. Rodney spent most of his free time in Lindsey’s quarters, which apparently meant that John spent most of his free time in her quarters, too.

Lindsey still wasn’t quite sure how that had happened, and she’d been a little nervous at first. All that stuff about getting on with your boyfriends’ friends that she’d thought - hoped - she’d left behind in the Milky Way still had the power to twist her guts inside out. Then she’d realized that John was just as nervous as she was, and smiled at him, and he’d winked at her...

And now they were all in her quarters, after another day of routine boredom for her, and total boredom for Rodney and John, and she caught John’s eye, nodded at a morose-looking Rodney, and said, “So, anyway, you never did tell me about you and Lt. Cadamn.”

“Cadman. Her name is Laura Cadman, and there’s nothing to tell.”

“Oh? That’s not what I heard,” said John, winking at Lindsey behind Rodney’s back. Lindsey raised a conspiratorial brow back at John, as Rodney said, “Colonel, can we please talk about something else?” He turned to Lindsey, saying, “The Aurora’s engines-”

“Well,” Lindsey teased, “maybe we should talk about you and Carson, then?”

“Oh, for!” Rodney rolled his eyes, and huffed as John snickered and began to hum the Wedding March. “Aren’t you over that yet, _Major_? What is your problem, anyway? Anyone would have thought you’d never seen two guys kiss before-”

“Hey, I don’t have a problem with it at all. If you and Carson want to publicly and openly declare your big gay love for one another-”

“For the last time, that was _not me_ , that was Cadman!”

“Of course it was,” John smiled mischievously, “and that’s exactly what I told the Marines.”

 _“You talked to the Marines,”_ Rodney hissed, eyes narrowed.

“Of course I did.” John radiated innocence. “You asked me to, remember? After they threw you the wedding shower-”

“You never told me the Marines threw you a wedding shower, Rodney,” Lindsey mock-pouted, trying not to laugh. “Did you get anything good?”

Rodney looked at her, looked back at John, and said “That was all your fault, you know.”

“Oh, no – you can’t blame me for that one! I had nothing to do with the wedding shower at all.” John pointed at Rodney and pouted, “And, actually, I’m kind of hurt that you think I would do something like that to you-”

The two of them together reminded her so much of her brothers sometimes. She caught John’s eye, snorfled, bit her lip, and breathed deep to keep from laughing.

“-I thought we were friends, McKay-” Lindsey looked from Rodney’s face to John’s like a spectator at a tennis match, and bit her lip harder.

“-That’s the kind of thanks I get, after I talked to the Marines to get them to lay off of you and Carson. Huh!” John sniffed, and folded his arms.

Rodney eyed him suspiciously, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “All right. I appreciate you talking to the Marines,” Rodney made the sort of face her little sister used to make when she had toothache, closed his eyes and ground out, “thank you.”

John smiled virtuously, and winked at Lindsey, “You’re welcome.” He blinked innocently at Rodney, and drawled, “You should be grateful, you know. It was kind of embarrassing, giving that whole Equality and Diversity speech to a room full of Marines. If it had been anyone but you and Carson-”

“You, you what? You told the Marines that… You bastard!” Rodney threw the pillow at him, and Lindsey gave in to the laughter, curling up around Rodney on her bunk. John caught the pillow easily, smirked at Rodney, and handed it back to Lindsey, ‘accidentally’ thwacking Rodney with it on the way.

Rodney just looked from one of them to the other, threw his hands up in the air and said “Gah!” He fell back onto the bed and tried to hide under the pillow, and Lindsey laughed until her sides hurt.

 

 

**The Lost Boys & The Hive – or, Your brain on drugs – Interlude.**

Lindsey stood at the door to Rodney’s temporary quarters on the Daedalus, and tried again. “I need to stay with you, Rodney, you know that. Carson said-”

“I know what Carson said!”

“-You shouldn’t be left alone yet.” Lindsey frowned. “Rodney-”

He wrapped his arms around himself, looked away and down, and mumbled, “You, you shouldn’t be alone with me.” He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye for the first time. “I could hurt you.”

Oh. Lindsey swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I trust you, Rodney.”

“Oh, don’t be so stupid!” Rodney’s hands uncurled from his sides and flew through the air. “Of course you can trust me, _normally_ , but right now I’m not normal! I’m full of so many drugs, Carson could use my brain scan for _disco lighting.”_

Lindsey just looked at him, smiling slightly. He looked so cute, with his hair ruffled, and pillow creases on his face. He’d been sleeping a lot since Carson released him from Atlantis’ infirmary, and Lindsey loved to sneak in to watch him sleep, letting his light snore soothe her. Oh, God - she thought his _snore_ was soothing? Oh, she had it baaad, all right.

So she smiled at him, and he sighed, and said, “Oh, all right then,” and pulled her into a hug, nuzzling his face into her neck. “I missed you. I missed you so much.” He pulled back and stared at her, eyes moving across her face, and she held still, held her breath, and watched him watching her.

“Lindsey.” He cradled her head in his hands, kissed her gently, trailed his fingertips down her cheek, and said, “I think I love you, you know.”

 

 

**Critical Mass – or, There’s a bomb in my city! – Epilogue.**

“I can’t believe… How could I not notice? I worked with him every day.” Lindsey paced restlessly around Rodney’s quarters, straightening the diplomas on his wall, picking things up and putting them down.

Rodney sprawled on his bed, watching her with a slightly worried expression. “You’re not the only one who didn’t notice. Heads are really going to roll over this one back on Earth.”

“And the Wraith-”

“Let’s not talk about them now.” He reached out to catch her hand, and squeezed it. “How ‘bout them Maple Leafs, huh?”

Lindsey stared at him. “The Wraith could attack us at any moment, and you want to talk about _hockey_?”

“What? What’s wrong with hockey?”

She just looked at him. He sighed, and then smiled hopefully. “Want to re-read Johansson’s paper? That’s always good for a laugh.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should go and visit the captain…”

“You can’t. I asked earlier. Carson’s not letting anyone see him yet. Well, except Elizabeth and Kate. Uh, Dr. Heightmeyer, our psychiatrist; you’ve met her, haven’t you? She’s very good.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good. I guess.”

“He’ll be fine.”

“I know. I know it all went perfectly. Hermiod was obnoxiously smug about the whole procedure.” She shared a smile about that with Rodney, and then sighed again.

“Hey, hey. I know a sure-fire way to relieve anxiety.” Rodney mock-leered at her and waggled his eyebrows.

Lindsey couldn’t help but smile: he looked like he was doing the worst impression of Groucho Marx in two galaxies. Well, what the hell. Worrying wasn’t helping; maybe she should try to forget everything instead. At least for a while.

She raised an eyebrow, and leered. “Oh, you do, do you?” Lindsey swayed towards him seductively. “Tell me more, big boy.”

Rodney’s smile lit up the room.

~~~~~

Lindsey stood in Rodney’s lab the next morning, uncomfortably aware of all the other staff pretending not to notice anything as they said goodbye. Leaving Rodney was getting harder every time she had to go back to Earth. “So…”

“Yeah.” At least Rodney looked as uncomfortable as she did.

“Um.”

Lindsey knew she only had a few moments before the Daedalus beamed her away, and suddenly everything seemed clear and easy. Simple. She stepped forward, pressing her body into his, gripped his head between her hands, and kissed his startled lips. He blinked and gasped, and she closed her eyes, swept her tongue into his mouth – warm, wet, coffee - and curled one hand behind his neck, and the other into his – soft, so soft – hair.

Then Oliviera’s voice was loud in her ear. “Dr. Novak, are you ready?” She stepped back and said, “Yes, I’m ready. Go ahead.”

Rodney blinked at her, stunned, and in a flash of white (nothing, falling) light he was gone, and she was aboard the Daedalus.

“Hermiod.”

“Dr. Novak. Did you enjoy your time in Atlantis?”

“Yes. Yes, I did,” Lindsey beamed at him, and he blinked at her, bemused.

Lindsey looked at his alien face, remembered Rodney’s equally bemused look, and giggled to herself.

Hermiod sighed, and mentally filed it in his ‘Just don’t even bother asking’ folder. He missed being around other Asgard; humans were weird.

 

 

**The Long Goodbye – or, Aliens made them do it – Epilogue.**

“Ah!” Rodney jerked awake, panting and gulping, clammy with cold sweat. Lindsey blinked through her usual _‘Where am I?’_ moment, shuddered, and started to untangle herself from the sticky-nasty sheets. They always had to change the sheets after one of them had a nightmare.

She sat up and curled an arm around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Rodney?”

“Oh, hey.” He twined his fingers around hers, and she felt fine tremors running through his hands, and scooched closer. “Sorry I woke you.”

“S’okay.” She planted a sleepy kiss against his back. “You want to talk about it?”

“Oh, it was just the dream. The party one. Gall was dancing with Dumais, and Griffin was playing poker. Same old same old, you know?” He tried to laugh it off, but his laugh was just - wrong. She cuddled closer, and said, “mm-hm,” because, yeah, she knew all about having good old ‘normal’ nightmares.

“And?”

“And then I turned round and John and Elizabeth were over at the buffet table with Aiden.” This time she felt the tremor run through his whole body, and she squeezed harder, nuzzling her face against the side of his neck.

She kissed his ear, and said, “They’re not dead.”

“I know. It was a stupid dream.” He breathed out in a whoosh, and leaned into her arms.

“Mmm, yeah. They’re fine, I’m fine, you’re fine,” - she stroked her hand across his belly and up his chest - “sticky, but fine.” He wriggled, and she bit his ear.

“Ow! Hey, no biting!”

“Get up, lazybones. We need to change the sheets.” Lindsey unpeeled herself from Rodney, fast, like pulling off a plaster, and only slightly less sticky. “And shower. We definitely need a shower.”

 

 

**Inferno – or, Volcano?! Run! – Epilogue.**

Rodney coughed, blushed, and shuffled his feet. Lindsey crossed her arms. “So, her name’s Nerina?”

“Uh, yes. Fascinating woman, uh, scientist. She’s-” Rodney met her eyes, and the stupid goofy look slid off his face. “She’s not a very good scientist, actually. Not, uh, not nearly as good at her job as you are at yours, Lindsey.”

Rodney tried a sickly smile, and Lindsey frowned harder. Of course _she_ wasn’t good at her job. _She_ didn’t need to be good at her job. _She_ was blonde and blue-eyed and beautiful. _She_ just had to smile prettily and flutter her fake eyelashes at some gullible idiot - like Rodney - and he’d fix all her problems for her. Bitch.

“She’s very - blonde.”

“Is she? I, uh, I hadn’t noticed. I was busy thinking of my imminent death by molten lava, and getting the Orion to fly, you know; saving everyone’s lives. Again! Mind you, it wasn’t all bad. The Orion’s engines are-”

“She’s very beautiful, isn’t she?”

“What, the Orion?” Rodney squeaked, babbling frantically now. “Yes, yes she is. The shielding-”

“Nerina.” Lindsey smiled to herself, bitterly, as the boulder of her name totally blocked Rodney’s river of words. It was so rare to find something that would shut him up, and she couldn’t believe how much it hurt her that Nerina’s name could do that. “You remember her, don’t you, Rodney? The tall, busty, beautiful blonde scientist you brought home with you?” The one who keeps cooing over Atlantis’ technology, giggling at your jokes, and hanging onto your arm. Bitch.

“The one you’re having dinner with tonight, just the two of you? Tonight! The first night we could-” Lindsey heard her voice go high and shaky; stopped, gulped, breathed through her nose for a moment

If she’d thought Rodney had his deer-in-headlights look before, it was nothing to the look he had now. Less deer-in-headlights; more deer-in-headlights-belonging-to-a-pack-of-well-armed-hunters’-SUV’s.

“Uh,” he said, and Lindsey _hurt_. Because he hadn’t said ‘No,’ or, ‘That’s a stupid rumour,’ or, ‘I wouldn’t touch that bitch with a ten-foot pole, because I love you, and I would never hurt you.’ She turned away and started to walk out.

“Wait, Lindsey. Wait!” Rodney fingers were hard against her arm, and she swung around to face him; hissing “What?” He dropped her arm and took two quick steps back. Getting out of hitting range, she thought. Then he just held up one finger, and tapped his earpiece with the other hand.

“Nerina? It’s McKay.”

Lindsey actually _felt_ the blood drain from her face, her skin suddenly cold and tingly. Rodney was still staring at her, tense. If this was his way of breaking up with her, it was beyond cruel, and she’d never thought of him as a cruel man. Lindsey’s hands clenched into fists, fingernails pressing sharply into her skin. She wanted to claw his eyes out; curl up in his arms and cry on his shoulder; _beg_.

“I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it tonight.” What? Lindsey looked at him again, and frowned.

There was a tense pause. It seemed to go on forever. Dammit, you bitch, talk faster.

“No, no problems. I just, ah, need some personal time.” Rodney looked back at her, his eyes intense with - something. Lindsey hiccupped twice, and held her breath.

“Well, this is the first free evening I’ve had in a long time, so I’d like to spend it with the woman I love, and-” Lindsey laughed, and hurled herself into his arms, and kissed him.

“-mmph- Sorry, Nerina. Busy now.” Click.

 

 

**Allies – or, Of course we can trust the evil alien vampires – Interlude.**

“Is it Christmas? Because I know it’s not my birthday.” Rodney was almost dancing with excitement as he looked at the data scrolling across the computer screens. He bounced around the room, going from one console to another, unable to stay still for more than a minute.

“Oh my God,” Lindsey said, looking at it all. “Oh my God.” Beside her, Radek worked methodically through one section after another, focussed and intense. “Look at it all, Radek. Can you believe they just handed all this over?”

“No.”

“I don’t trust them,” said Carson, dourly, from across the room. “They’re up to something; they must be.”

“Well, obviously we can’t trust them, but we’ve all checked it, and it’s genuine.” Rodney suddenly stopped bouncing and looked at them all, anxiously. “It is genuine, isn’t it?”

“Well,” Lindsey took a deep breath, and blew it out. “Yes.”

“It seems to be,” Radek agreed, reluctantly.

“Aye, it looks it.”

Suddenly Radek exploded into motion, pacing, hands flying. “There has to be a catch. Nobody just hands over vital military secrets like this. Just look at that, there.” Radek pointed at a diagram of part of the Wraith life-support systems. “The damage we could do…” He fiddled with his glasses. “This makes no sense. I don’t like it.”

“Well, we don’t need to like it.” Rodney ran a hand through his hair, obviously thinking out loud. “We don’t even need to understand why they’d give this to us. As long as the data is genuine, we can use it against them. It’s not as if they can take it back now.”

Radek sighed, and Carson folded his arms. Lindsey watched them all, and hiccupped.

“At this point, trust is irrelevant,” Rodney continued, pacing. “We already have the data. Elizabeth will be watching them like a hawk, and John, Teyla, Ronon and Caldwell will kill them if they even breathe funny. We’re minimising every possible risk, so,” he turned around and beamed at them all, arms flung open wide, “what could possibly go wrong?”

 

**~ The End – or, I hate cliff-hangers. ~**

 

**Author's Note:**

> There will be no sequel to this. Just thought I should say that, because on re-reading, that last line (which was a comment on the show leaving us on a cliffhanger at the end of Season Two) might be a bit misleading without that 2006 context. I had originally intended to write one, but Season Three went in a different direction, so this is all there is.


End file.
